Agreed, which is why I think something similar will happen. Both wine in grocery stores, and legalization (to any extent) would mean a possible increase in revenue for the state in taxes. But I'm sure there are enough lobbyists to buy out the vote and not allow either to pass despite what the people may want.

A high sales tax to offset the lack of income tax is a regressive form of taxes. Lower income people spend a higher percentage of their income than higher income individuals meaning that they pay a higher percentage of their income to taxes.

Texas deals with the same thing when it comes to casino gambling. We have Indian reservations in OK and NM and Riverboats in LA but it is 100% illegal in Texas. It's illegal to the point where Dallas actually sent a SWAT team to break up a charity poker game at a VFW. No actual cash was changing hands and everything was for charity but it didn't stop masked men with guns breaking in and proning everyone out at the point of a machine gun.

My personal favorite are the c-stores that have them out in the open with the huge signs saying you can't get anything of value in exchange for winning. Once the coast is clear the player has the clerk verify a win on the screen and then exchange that for cash, smokes, beer or lotto.

The truth about the issue with selling wine in grocery stores in TN: TN has very strict and dumb laws about alcohol, especially wine and spirits. There are only a few approved distributors in West TN, Middle TN, and East TN that each can only carry approved brands and products (meaning no competition on Captain Morgan but competition with rum in general). In Middle TN for sure (won't speak for the other two parts since I haven't experienced it for myself), those distribution companies like to spark fierce discount competitions between liquor stores by offering a volume deal. Essentially, each month they come out with a new list of "buy x cases for $price and we'll give you x cases for free which will let you bring down the price." (Technically, you can't give alcohol for free in TN, so what they actually do is jack up the price enough that they can make huge price cuts for volume deals and give the allusion you are getting free cases) This works because TN does not allow liquor stores to sell for a loss, and TN only allows a liquor store owner to only own one liquor store in the entire state; therefore, competition between liquor stores can be very fierce. Now, if grocery stores like Kroger or Walmart or Aldis, etc etc, were allowed to sell wine, who's to say that these distribution centers will start developing volume deals that only the grocery stores could afford? They would sell wine so much cheaper that most liquor stores wouldn't have a cut in their bottom line from wine sales, they would lose it! I've noticed this with wine prices in grocery stores and liquor stores in Louisiana.

Source: I worked in a liquor store in a small town in Middle TN for almost 2 years.

Selling wine for really cheap sounds like a good thing to me. That would mean that consumers would have more money to spend on other things, and more time to do it because they can save that extra trip to the liquor store every week. People would definitely lose jobs at those liquor stores, but significantly reduced costs of alcohol is going to provide a huge economic boost, and that should provide way more opportunities for employment than what is currently available.

Colorado only made it legal to buy alcohol on Sundays a few years ago. Grocery stores still can't sell wine or booze (there are one or two grocery stores allowed to now, but it's definitely not the norm). Weed has a chance to be legal if your people are loud enough.

Except TN has a vested interest in agriculture. Making cannabis legal would open up the agriculture portion of TN's economy for production and would put the state at the forefront of the national whole sale market.

Definitely wouldn't say never man I mean were coming up on half of states being decriminalized/medical? And 2 Alrdy fully legal recreationally obviously some are gonna take a much longer time than others but it's definitely picking up pace.

Having lived in Tennessee for awhile, part of me can see this happening. A ton of marijuana is grown in the state, mostly in very rural communities. Tennessee has a long history of having a huge black market for moonshine, meth, and marijuana - no doubt a lot of pragmatic Republicans and blue collar workers in the state, that I've talked to at least, would support medicinal marijuana due to the economic impact it could have in the state. And of course, the major population centers of Nashville, Memphis, Chattanooga, and Knoxville are relatively liberal compared to the rest of the state. For a Republican, Governor Bill Haslam is somewhat moderate and he tends to focus more on economic issues. While state politics in Tennessee are pretty typical of a southern state, on the whole I think Tennessee is a bit more open to new ideas than its counterparts in the region.

So realistically, I could see this proposition getting some real debate. Most likely won't pass, but it will be close.

I think you are over estimating the liberal mind set in urban TN. I live in the Memphis area. Having said that I will be happy to turn out to be wrong about this. I just think the conservative forces would freak out about this and effectively mobilize against it.

I'm not overestimating the liberal mindset, I'm saying that this is an issue that the state's conservatives might be more willing to consider. Marijuana is a huge cash crop (if I'm not mistaken, TN is one of the top marijuana producing states in the country per capita) which makes it a huge potential source of revenue.

Again, I'm mostly arguing that I see the issue getting real debate and not being immediately dismissed by the state's conservatives.

I am all for the idea although I have no current need for medical marijuana myself. Stupid frequently trumps practical in TN. The thing is the conservatives here ( which is almost everybody ) were simply making a revenue based decision then they would probably favor it. Come election time I can barely distinguish the Repubs form the Dems from their TV adds as they spend most of their time trying to out Jesus one another. It has the potential to be a fun debate.

I'd tend to agree, it also kind of depends on where you are. I'm downtown now and around the city and campus it's definitely more liberal, or at least in the middle. I grew up in Farragut (those guys) and it was embarassingly conservative.

I agree. Here in NE Tennessee, even the the most conservative of folks I know are completely ok with pot. Better than the meth and pills that are so prevalent now. Sadly, the will of the people won't really influence the vote on this.

a lot of pragmatic Republicans and blue collar workers in the state, that I've talked to at least, would support medicinal marijuana due to the economic impact it could have in the state

I don't think you have a firm grasp on how politics works when it comes to drug laws. It's all about atmospherics and being able to demonize your opponent. If it was based on pragmatic examination of the facts, the drug war would have been over many years ago.

Seeing the modern Gold Rush created by legal pot in CO, it seems like state governors across the US are probably giving serious consideration to allowing medical pot. Prisons and prisoners cost money. Let the people buy pot, and pay taxes on the purchase. Rather than dumping millions into prisons, have millions being dumped into state budgets. It's economic common sense.

It would really depend on how the contract was structured. If they get paid on a per-inmate basis, then yes, probably. But most privately run prisons have stipulation that they will be paid as if their prison had a certain amount of prisoners in it (I've seen articles claim it's 90%). If that's the case, then they would want fewer inmates, as they'll be paid as if the fail was 90% full, but are spending less than they would be if it was actually 90% full.

It isn't clear if there's actually a gold rush. The high tax rate ensures that a black market will continue to thrive. Plus, there are a lot of regulations around the selling of marijuana and verifying compliance is expensive. It's going to take some time before anybody knows just what the bottom line is.

To be really profitable, the production, sale, and possession should be entirely unregulated (or at least no more regulated than any other agricultural crop). Low prices will destroy the black market, reduce bureaucracy, and reduce demands on the justice system.

The pre-existing income and sales taxes will generate additional income without requiring any extra layers of government. Plus the marijuana tourists will bring a lot of new money to the state. I'd really like to see a cost-benefit analysis of the current taxation scheme.

Born and raised in Tennessee, this will never pass. This state is too deeply rooted in southern belief that weed is "the devil's lettuce." We'll have to wait for an old stubborn uber jesus generation to die out.

Wait can't tell if joke or serious? I would love to start carrying my switchblade again. I don't understand why they're illegal in the first place... If someone wants to stab me, having to open up their knife with one finger first (as opposed to pushing a button) isn't going to make them change their mind. It's just convenient when you have to use it a lot.

I live in Tennessee and I don't believe there is any chance for this to pass. There are way too many bible thumpers around to allow any sort of Marijuana to be legal. My county just recently allowed liquor stores. The county in which Jack Daniels is made is also still a dry county. The government runs intrusive 'drug free workplace' programs which drug tests everyone in the company I work for every year without any sort of probable cause or reason. (I sit at a desk).

Legal Marijuana? yeah right! It doesn't matter if it is for the sick or elderly, reason won't work here.

Medicinal is still important though. It gets help to people who truly need it. If a state is unwilling to completely legalize it recreationally, they should at least allow it medically. Baby steps, if that's what it takes

Because it's baby steps. You can't just go balls out and decriminalize. You have to get people to accept it first, let their guard down and then you decriminalize it...it's a bunch of old people/deep southerners who still believe what "Reefer Madness" told them...

I lived in Tennessee for 15 before moving to Colorado 2 years ago. Having experienced both cultures, I can bet this will not pass in TN anytime soon. There are simply too many narrow minds in East TN to let go of the pot-user stigma.

I imagine after watching the happenings in Colorado, every State in the Union will be having some discussion in the coming days/weeks about how they too can generate funds by following Colorado. In Iowa, there has been talk for a while of the likelihood of getting legalization on the ballot in 2016 (fairly likely); but with that many dollar signs and being the bread basket of the US, I'd bet Iowa has a proposal up and going just a little bit sooner than 2016...

And once we jump in, game over for most States on the production side; consider what happened when demand for corn was artificially raised by US subsidies...we were one of the key players in crushing Mexico's viability on the market...standard economic models, without the artificial demand in play, would predict Mexico to be a (the) strong presence in producing & exporting corn to the US; instead they import corn...

Now look at Marijuana - there is both high real demand and incredible artificial demand from the US's negative stance toward the crop limiting supply (corn wasn't an illegal Schedule I controlled substance) by enforcement measures preventing production/distribution capacity to be utilized and by measures designed to create general deterrence through criminalization/stigmatization at most levels (research on marijuana can still be performed with the correct appeals/approval). Since real demand far exceeds what corn would have w/o intervention, and since deterrence is suppressing accurate measures of how high that real demand actually is (people generally avoid activity that places them in jail), Iowa, and its ability to maximize yield to freakish levels, would easily dominate the market without the need for subsidies and would cause similar upheavals, yet in a manner benefitting other States (tax revenue, revenue from legal management, etc...) & damaging non-US illegitimate economies (cartels with pathetic output in a legitimate economy).

This could have wide implications - it could mean other States' legislatures would choose to lag behind with less motivation to legalize and instead focus on combating those in possession outside of a legalized area - i.e., investment in revenue generation through control could generate more revenue than if production turns non-economically viable (high disparity in imprisoned/economically impoverished people based on geography and a single commodity would force the feds to act); it could mean Mexican drug cartels would get smashed; it could mean the commodities market would be shifted, pushing any of our major crops that are affected to require further subsidies coming from the US govt or other States becoming viable producers and instead recipients of the subsidies no longer required by Iowa for the respective crop (lest global food prices shift upward)...Pressure from Iowa entering the game could mean a lot...

With the wide implications of a major ag State fully legalizing (which Iowa has historically demonstrated very early adoption of progressive law), the federal government would be forced to address the issue head on; either crack down hard or complete legalization...crackdown at the Federal level would finally become the choice of irrationality and political disfavor it would seem...

Tl;dr: Iowa and its people will cause the second coming of Jesus and the arrival of New Jerusalem

I don't personally smoke Marijuana, but I support this bill. Prohibition creates criminals out of normal citizens not harming a soul, and especially for a "drug" which has never killed anyone.. ever (while dealers of it are known to, and this would end dealers of Marijuana) I'm ready to say goodbye to the prohibition on a harmless plant..for everyone's sake.

Plus, in case no one noticed.. the tax revenue would be AMAZING for our state, while currently the only ones reaping those benefits are the drug dealers.

However, Anyone getting their hopes up, please remember...We are in the The Bible Belt, and what is good for the state, or for it's people, or in the interest of good and free will usually doesn't matter here if "The Church" disagrees. It likely will.

Are there even enough patients that meet that criteria spread throughout Tennessee to make it worthwhile for dispensaries to open?

It seems like something the government or hospitals would have to get involved in. I don't see a big enough market for a private business with those ridiculous rules for who can qualify to receive it. Picture working a dispensary in a random city in Tennessee on a random tuesday. How many people are really going to come in that day?

The reason it works so well in other states is because you have people who just go into the doctor and claim anxiety for a medical card, and then use it responsibly like fucking adults, in addition to those who actually need it.